Hereford upsets Randall in bidistrict playoff

PLAINVIEW — Every playoff cliche about throwing the records out the window and the first month of the season meaning nothing were on full display Friday night at Greg Sherwood Bulldog Memorial Stadium.

That was great news for the Hereford Whitefaces, nd season-ending news for the Randall Raiders.

In a rematch of a regular-season game in which Randall beat Hereford by 33 points, there was little evidence of that outcome in the Class 4A Division II matchup. Hereford responded to a go-ahead Randall touchdown with quarterback Ray Martinez leading the game-winning drive, which concluded when Shawndi Gaytan scored from a yard out with 28 seconds remaining to lift the Herd to a surprising 34-31 win.

So much for Hereford entering the playoffs with a losing record. The Herd, at 5-6, still is below .500, but has won all the ones which have counted lately.

“It’s a huge win for us and it’s just more evidence of what these guys have persevered through this year,” Hereford coach Don Delozier said.

Anybody who was at Friday’s game and didn’t see the first meeting of the season between the two teams in Hereford in September might have had a hard time believing that Randall (9-2) beat the Herd 33-0. But Hereford was clearly a different team this time.

“We didn’t want to forget,” Delozier said. “We didn’t feel like we played like we should have, but it seems we get better and better each week.”

It looked as if the Herd still might not have had enough to overcome Randall late in the fourth quarter. The Raiders marched 75 yards on 12 plays as senior quarterback Collin Bowen led a patented drive, concluding it by scoring from 4 yards out to give Randall a 31-27 lead with 3:30 left.

The Whitefaces took over at their own 29-yard line after the kickoff and there was no sense of panic.

“We huddled on the sideline like we always do before a drive and told the kids we have plenty of time and all three timeouts,” Delozier said. “Let’s go get the job done.”

And with the ball in the hands of Martinez, it looked fairly easy. Martinez, who ran for 143 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries and threw for 163 yards and two scores to Josh Lopez, was involved in running or throwing the ball on the first 10 plays of the 11-play drive.

“We live for going out there and giving all you got and, in the end, it all fell our way,” Martinez said. “It’s going to be a legacy for us seniors.”

Martinez completed six of seven passes on the drive, including four to JaDeion High. The biggest came with 31 seconds left on a second and 10 from the Randall 23.

Martinez completed a post pattern to High, who leaped for the ball and came down with it at the one.

After a timeout, short yardage specialist Gaytan scored the game-winner.

“(The Raiders) tagged the post route and I had to set them up to get open,” High said. “I knew Ray would get it there.”

For Randall, the loss was a bitter pill to swallow after winning 30 games over the last three seasons. The Raiders had reached the third round of the playoffs each of the last two years.

“It’s just disappointing,” Randall coach Bryan Wood said. “We had a lot of missed opportunities out there. It was a much improved Hereford team, which gave us a lot of trouble.”

Bowen ran for 144 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries and threw for 186 yards and a touchdown. He also played some cornerback for the Raiders, who shifted some people around because of injuries, most notably to senior defensive end Charleston Woods, who tore an ACL in the final game of the regular season against Caprock.